10 Days in Gaza directed by Dov Gil-Har, Israel, 2005, 65 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles.

By Donald H. Harrison

It will be impossible for people who view this documentary not to do so with emotion.  When the Jewish settlers in Gaza were forced by the Israel Defense Forces to leave their homes forever, the cameras of Israel Television Channel 2 seemingly were everywhere, inside the settlers' homes and synagogues as they awaited the IDF troops, with the soldiers, and at the encounters of the two groups.  Such complete, unrestricted access enabled the television station not only to show "news as it happened," but to later combine all the footage into one stunning reel, guaranteed to provide you with tremendous insight into the psychology of Israelis.

Whatever our political views, our emotions are stirred because it is not only the settlers whose hearts were broken by the Gaza evacuation, but also those of the soldiers who came to carry out the orders.  Soldiers are trained to fight enemies, not their fellow citizens, who in some cases, may include members of their very own families. Because of this fact, the emotions of the settlers run the gamut: some yell at the soldiers—"How can you do this?!"—but then, how can you stay angry at a soldier who is crying as hard as you are?  So, the Gaza settlers have seesawing emotions, sometimes screaming invective, sometimes tearfully hugging those who have been sent to evacuate them.

Now we know that just a relatively short time after the "tenth "day of this documentary—the day when Israel's flag was lowered from Gaza— the terrorists of Hamas would win the Palestinian elections. We know now that there is debate whether the murderous policies of Hamas will push Israel into warfare, and perhaps, even, the reoccupation of Gaza.  And we know that the settlers once again will demand bitterly of the Israeli government: "For what!?"



Jewish  settlers in Gaza  await the IDF on a barbed wire
rooftop. They were soon escorted from their "fortress."

There are so many memorable moments in this film that the images will ricochet in your brain for a long time to come.  To dramatize what they considered to be the perfidy of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered the evacuation, the settlers frequently invoked Holocaust analogies to tear at the conscience of the soldiers and the Israeli television public.  "Heil Hitler! Heil Sharon!" was a typical epithet.  In some cases, the settlers sewed the Yellow Stars of the Shoah onto their clothing for all to see as they were being led away.  They even had their children come out of their homes with their hands up, evoking the famous Holocaust  image of the little boy with raised hands soon to be led to slaughter by Nazi troops.

There were some futile attempts at resistance, such as the youth who stood atop the roof of a synagogue and poured green paint—green for Hamas—on the heads of the soldiers.  Some even resorted to throwing acid onto the soldiers.  One soldier was so severely burned he had to be rushed by ambulance to a hospital.  Such tactics backfired on the settlers because they undermined the sympathy other Israelis felt for them.  And from a military standpoint, they were ineffective.  Soldiers in a large container were lifted to the rooftop by a giant crane.  From the container they sprayed the crowd with water, forcing them back.  And within moments the soldiers took control.

I came away from the documentary with increased admiration for the Israeli Defense Forces.  Clearly the young men and women who had to carry out the evacuation orders had been well briefed. For the most part, they did not react to the taunts; instead they deflected them with words of sympathy..  When settlers screamed hatred at them, the soldiers responded by telling the soldiers that they loved them, that they shared their grief, but, as the settlers well  knew, they were there to do the job assigned to them.  "I want to give you a hug," more than one soldier told the settlers, and often the settlers would respond with a tearful embrace.  In some cases, soldiers joined with the settlers in the last prayer services to be conducted in the settlement synagogues.

And all the while, the cameras watched.  

Yes, withdrawing from Gaza was the right thing to do from the standpoint of keeping Israel both Jewish and democratic.  No, it was the wrong thing to do from the standpoint of maintaining security.  Whichever side of the debate you're on, you'll still be greatly moved by this documentary. These fellow Jews on both sides of the controversy are our family! 
   
10 Days in Gaza will be presented at the 16th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival at 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 19, at the AMC La Jolla Theatres. Scheduled guest speakers include news reporter Dana Weiss and founders and graduates of the Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute (JITLI), which takes Israeli and American Jews along with Arabs from Israel and Palestine on educational trips to Spain and Israel.